We’ve seen plenty of small, medium and large dogs in LOTL. So far, the Ridgebacks have been our venti (or is it grande?) shoppers … until now:
This adorable Dane went home with the biggest toy I have … it’s a three-headed tug toy so supersized that I wondered why I even brought it in. People usually pick it up and ask “What is this?”
“It’s a big dog thing, you wouldn’t understand.”
Dude.
It’s brachycephalic bliss up in this joint lately:
Lucy saw my camera and was all, “I got this, Lady. Watch me work it.” Then she snapped her paw over her head three times.
My friend Penelope introduced me to this awesome silicone travel bowl … it goes from this:
… to this:
It comes in red, green, and blue as well. Cool, right?
The company that makes it also sent Sum a little gift:
It’s a new leash and a safety collar! The collar has a little piece of elastic stitched in, so if Sum got hung up on something like a fence post he’d be able to wiggle free.
Sumner says “Thanks for thinking of me, cool bowl folks!”
Or should I say “dogalog”?
Sally looks like quite the little fashionista in her jaunty pink scarf. I like her style:
I think I need to start a photo series called “Dogs of the Red Chair” … maybe have a pose-off or something. Do I smell a LOTL calendar?
“Enrichment” is a big buzz word these days … the word itself crept out of the world of exotic animal keepers at zoos and aquariums. Enriching a captive animal’s life might mean making it forage for meals rather than feeding from a dish, or introducing novel treat dispensing toys to avoid boredom and keep the animal thinking creatively.
I’m all about canine enrichment at LOTL (ask me about it, I’ll talk your ear off), so it makes sense that the concept has trickled into every aspect of my life. The latest recipients? My parents’ chickens.
Their chickens usually live rich, full lives. They wrote the book on being “free range,” and their diet consists of standard meal enhanced with every vegetable that passes through my parents’ house. It was good to be a Schade chicken, until last week.
Something decided to take a bite out of one of them while she was free-ranging. We’re not sure what it was, but the poacher left a pile of feathers, and a nervous chicken with a nearly naked bum. She lived, and she’s doing well, but the close call put an end to their all day strolling. The chickens now have to stay inside the coop for most of the day.
Boring.
Enrichment to the rescue! Rather than let my Dad toss an old loaf of bread into the coop, I asked him to rig up a pinata-type affair. He threaded some string through the top of the bread:
And then suspended it in the pen:
We stood back and waited for the unadulterated chicken joy that was about to unfold before us. Spinning, twisting, hard-to-eat bread – what fun!
Uh, no.
The chickens clustered in the far corner of the cage, squawking and complaining about the scary new thing that might morph from inanimate object to chicken craving carnivore at any moment. The bread went untouched for a day, at which point I assume the string pulled loose and the chickens decided that stationary bread posed no threat.
Sigh. I tried.
The LOTL Grand Opening Yappy Hour last Thursday was amazing! We had a full house from 6:00 on … there were moments during the evening when it was elbow-to-elbow and nose-to-tail.
Wow.
We had reps from two different food companies handing out tons of samples (thanks, Annamaet and Canine Caviar!), and two dogs from Home at Last Dog Rescue with us looking for their forever homes.
I had a great time, and hope you all did too … thanks for your support!
(And a big thanks to Holiday House for spreading the word!)
